Lydia Wong
One of Canada’s most sought after collaborative pianists, acclaimed for her “vivacious playing” (Daily Telegraph) and “sparkling clarity” (The Strad), Lydia Wong appears regularly with the world’s pre-eminent performers. Venues across the globe from Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City to London’s Wigmore Hall have featured her expertise in partnership with such artists as Edgar Meyer, Lorand Fenyves, Patrick Gallois, Michel Lethiec, Yuri Bashmet, Nobuko Imai, Arto Noras, Erika Raum, Shauna Rolston, and Scott St. John.
Following her successful Banff Centre collaboration with Krzysztof Penderecki on the North American premiere of his Sextet, Ms. Wong has enjoyed a particular association with the composer. She was invited to perform the Sextet and other works at the Festival Casals in Puerto Rico and at the Making Music series in New York City by Carnegie Hall. In 2003, with violinist Erika Raum, she gave the North American premiere of Penderecki’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in Toronto; she also performed at Maestro Penderecki’s 70th birthday celebration in Warsaw, Poland, and served as a member of the jury for the Seventh Annual International Contemporary Chamber Music Competition in Krakow, Poland.
Active in New Music, Ms. Wong has appeared as soloist and is a regular member with the Esprit Orchestra. She can be heard on CentreDiscs, Naxos, Marquis Classics, and Phoenix Records, and has performed for networks in North America, Africa, and Europe besides broadcasting regularly for the CBC.
A graduate of the University of Toronto and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Ms. Wong currently teaches at the University of Toronto where she was coordinator of the Chamber Music Program from 2004 to 2009. She was appointed artistic co-ordinator of the Collaborative Piano Internship program at the Banff Centre in 2008 where she has been on faculty since 1993.
